Where the Cowboys’ new-look defense ranks after the draft

After a downright embarrassing showing by their defense throughout the regular season, the Cowboys promised to make significant changes to the unit coming into 2026. While they didn’t make any big splashes in free agency, Dallas added some quality talent to their defense and clearly is an improved unit, on paper, compared to where they were last season.

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Caleb Downs, Rashan Gary, Jalen Thompson, and Dee Winters are all players Dallas acquired this offseason that should come in and start from day one and improve the overall floor of the defensive unit. Even though the Cowboys made some quality moves on the defensive side of the ball, questions remain if they did enough to upgrade what was one of the worst defensive units in NFL history, less than a year ago.

In a recent article for Bleacher Report, it was predicted the Cowboys’ defense will still struggle this year, ranking Dallas 26th among all defensive units in the NFL. Here is what he had to say about the Cowboys’ new-look defense.

The Dallas Cowboys were abysmal defensively a year ago. Only one NFC team allowed more yards per game than the Cowboys last season, and Dallas was the only team in the league that allowed more than 30 points per game.

To be fair, the Cowboys were aggressive in both free agency and the draft trying to fix that leaky defense. There are a pair of new edge-rushers in Dallas in veteran Rashan Gary and first-round rookie Malachi Lawrence. The Cowboys quietly strengthened the linebacker room with a draft day trade for Dee Winters, who topped 100 total tackles and started all 17 games for the San Francisco 49ers last year. Ohio State safety Caleb Downs is a movable chess piece who was a gift with the 11th overall pick. If Lawrence is a quick study, the front four in Big D could actually be pretty solid. But there are just too many potential issues behind them—both against the run and in coverage.

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Hope the Dallas offense is ready for some shootouts.

The article makes some solid points, particularly questioning Dallas’ strength in coverage. Adding Caleb Downs will help Dallas’ secondary in a big way, but they are still relying on Daron Bland and Shavon Revel to both stay healthy and consistently play well, something we have not seen from either player in some time.

While they aren’t close to a top-10 unit, the Cowboys’ offseason acquisitions have likely been enough to move them out of the cellar of NFL defenses. Ranking them 26th in the league at this point in the offseason is fair, but as Christian Parker gets his hands on this defense and molds things the way he wants to, it’s reasonable to expect them to climb up to a top-20 unit at some point this year.

The Cowboys’ defense isn’t a strength, but it’s good enough not to be their Achilles’ heel as it was last season.